1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a scene selection screen generation device, a scene selection screen adding system, a method for generating a scene selection screen, a method for adding a scene selection screen, an imaging device, and a computer readable storage medium having recorded thereon a program, each of which is for adding a newly selectable scene selection screen to an imaging device having a shooting condition setting section which sets the imaging device for a shooting condition, upon receiving a selection of any one of scene selection screens corresponding individually to shooting scenes, by reading out the shooting condition corresponding to the selected shooting scene, from a storage section that stores the shooting conditions individually in association with the shooting scenes.
2. Description of the Related Art
Today, digital cameras offering scene selection feature are appearing. This scene selection feature typically offers pre-registered shooting conditions (sets of values of f number, shutter speed, white balance and coloration, etc.) individually associated with and optimal for pre-set scenes, such as “landscape”, “nightscape” and “people”. Selection of any one of these pre-registered scenes automatically sets the camera for an optimal shooting condition associated with the selected scene. This affords scene-adapted shooting with optimal shooting condition for scenes each.
On displaying one of the scenes, “landscape”, “nightscape” and “people” for example, as a pre-set sample image, a typical digital camera with such a function displays a note that says “Shooting people”, “Enhance skin color” and so forth, together with the displayed sample image. A user can know easily from this, in advance, which scene to select for optimally shooting actual scenes, or, of what type the shooting condition to be applied is. In other words, the user can select one of the pre-registered scenes with sufficient understanding based on the displayed sample image and the note. This enables the user to shoot an intended scene with an optimal shooting condition (see for example, Unexamined Japanese Patent Application KOKAI Publication No. 2002-10133).
The digital camera displays the sample image and the notes therefor as a scene selection screen, one screen for each scene. When a desired scene selection screen is selected and the selection is decided, a shooting condition that is associated with the selected scene is applied.
In addition, there is an invention of a digital camera that allows registration of a shooting condition used in the user's shooting, in association with the image shot in the shooting. In this digital camera, when any image is selected from the images shot in the past, a shooting condition that is associated with the selected image is automatically applied. Therefore, a user can confirm the quality of photograph to be taken, by seeing the image shot in the past, and can perform shooting with the same shooting condition as that of the image in the user's view (see for example, Unexamined Japanese Patent Application KOKAI Publication No. 2002-10134).
However, in the digital camera of Unexamined Japanese Patent Application KOKAI Publication No. 2002-10133, when an image displayed in association with a note on the scene selection screen is replaced with another image photographed by the user himself/herself, change of shooting condition is caused together. In this time, the note is not changed, and it comes that lack of correspondence between the shooting condition and the note is caused. That is, in the digital camera of Unexamined Japanese Patent Application KOKAI Publication No. 2002-10134, the linked operation in new recording or updating is only between the shooting condition and the images. It provides a low flexibility for a user who envisions a new scene and wishes to prepare an optimal information screen (scene selection screen) therefor.
In the digital camera of Unexamined Japanese Patent Application KOKAI Publication No. 2002-10134, what the digital camera performs is to merely display the image photographed by the user himself/herself. Therefore unfortunately, it is difficult to know to what kind of a scene a shooting condition set in association with the displayed image should optimally be applied.
The present invention is made in view of the above-described conventionally existing problems, and it is an object of the present invention to realize individual user's flexible preparation of an easy-to-grasp screen for selecting a scene, in which the user can freely prepare and add a scene selection screen while associating the scene selection screen with a shooting condition to be set.